A torture-scarred Sri Lankan and his accomplice have been jailed for a vicious attack on a shopkeeper’s wife in front of her young child.

Over six months, the two men of Sri Lankan origin had began taking goods at will from the owner of Church Mini Market in Church Road, Mitcham, and threatening to kill him if he complained to police.

The series of thefts, during which the pair described themselves as gangsters, culminated in a violent onslaught against the owner and his family on January 15, 2011.

While the owner’s 46-year-old wife was in the shop with their 10-year-old son, one of the men smashed a vodka bottle over a 26-year-old shop assistant’s head, before the wife was punched and kicked to the ground.

Arikan Senthievl, 31, of Acre Road, Tooting, and Sukumar Santharatanam, 37, from Mitcham, were each sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Monday, January 30, to three years in prison for committing grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm and robbery.

Both men had fled the scene but were caught by Merton police officers who happened to be nearby dealing with a separate incident.

Detective Sergeant Martin Woodroffe, who led the investigation, said: “This was an appalling and unprovoked attack on people working hard in a shop, serving their community.

“Through the courage of the shop owners and the clear evidence from the CCTV cameras in their shop, the defendants were rightly found guilty and convicted.”

His colleague, Detective Constable Jen Lye, said the victims had rebuilt their lives after what she described as a “traumatic attack”.

The court also heard Santharatanam had originally come to Britain to escape the Sri Lankan civil war and suffered from mental health problems after being captured while working as a humanitarian aid worker.

The father-of-two was brutally tortured for several weeks and has hundreds of scars from cigarette burns.

Following his ordeal, Santharatanam had paranoid schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed.

During the sentencing, Judge Georgina Kent said it was clear from the CCTV evidence the two men had tried to dislodge the cash register while carrying out the brutal attack.

Judge Kent said: “The owner and her son were cowering in fear as you caused deliberate and gratuitous damage to the shop.

“She appears clearly petrified. She tried to escape despite your attempts to stop her.

“She has vividly described the emotional distress she felt. Not only because of the terror she suffered herself but because her 10-year-old son witnessed this horrific incident."

Both men were sentenced to 36 months imprisonment but, having already served 378 days in custody, it is expected the pair will be released within six months.